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I'm creating this out of a suggestion by DCT. I feel like compiling this information/my opinion/other people’s thoughts into one place would work better than occasionally asking, “Hay GOG, where’s le Pajama Sam?!” It will be periodically updated, but I will try to avoid bumping for no reason as I know that ticks people off, understandably.

Summary of the past year or so: So as you guys know I’m a big fan of Humongous Entertainment’s games of yesteryear, namely the point and click adventures of Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, and Spy Fox. At first, I didn’t expect GOG to bring them here because of the “kid” focus, and was HIGHLY disappointed by this. However, upon learning that Nimbus Games had a license from Atari to re-release these games, and bringing this to GOG’s attention (as well as mentioning the popularity of these games via YouTube views, wishlist count, “Reddit respect”, etc.), I received some encouraging responses. Thus, I’m creating this thread “preemptively” to hopefully garner support; Nimbus are working on PC re-releases for Win7/8, and I really think GOG should strongly consider selling these + the SCUMM (?some DOS?) originals + the soundtracks here.

Why I believe these games belong here and would do well:

- These games are not like other “kiddie” titles like Jumpstart or Zoombinies (although those are good games too). These have aged quite well as early point and click adventures, and have sort of a “timeless” quality to them. Within them are interesting stories, charming settings, funny characters, and logical puzzles, from a time when hand-drawn animation was the norm. - They can be enjoyed by both people who remember these games, and kids of today. I’d suggest that it’s not just a “mindless nostalgia” rush, though; as mentioned above, these games still have play value. - Humongous Entertainment’s point and click adventures could act as “gateway” (in a good way) to other, more adult-oriented (or more complex) point and click adventures, like Gabriel Knight, Quest for Glory, Tex Murphy, Simon the Sorcerer etc. Of course, you could argue that Pajama Sam’s animation is not Tex’s live video, but I think this is still a valid point. - GOG already has some games for kids or those that were arguably initially designed for kids (Manhole, Torin’s Passage, Rayman, Little Big Adventure, Superfrog, etc.) Again, you could argue against some of these, but the point is that I believe GOG should not feel like it has to discriminate against children simply to stay “cool” in the eyes of its audience. - Post-Lucasarts Ron Gilbert co-founded Humongous Entertainment. ☺ - Freddi Fish 1 won "Best Children's Game 1994" and I believe Pajama Sam won a similar award (although I can't seem to find the box art for that). - These games are still popular (see below):

Popularity:

(I’ll admit this probably isn’t the best data, but I think it’s legitimate when deciding how well a game would sell.)

Youtube: The first seven videos of Pajama Sam contain almost 450,000 views. Scrolling down, dshban’s “Let’s Play Pajama Sam Part 1” has almost 180,000 views. Similarly, the first five videos of Spy Fox has over 200,000 views. A parody video by Peanut Butter Gamer called “Putt-Putt does Some Things” has over 500,000 views, and down a few videos, a walkthrough of Putt-Putt Joins the Circus has 470, 000 views. These huge numbers are similar for Freddi Fish, too.

"I think that I was among the luckiest kids to get playing this amazing game....it's been 10 years now. It's wonderful to feel the﻿ memories again...." - KralZahin731, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxbX80f4Zqg

Prices: Atari and a site called Games 2 Download are selling Humongous Games for 10 bucks a pop. While I do like these games, I think Freddi Fish 2 for 10 bucks is a bit overpriced. I respectfully let Nimbus know about this; we’ll see if I get a response. I believe the best option would be a 5.99 price for most of the post-1995 games, and 5.99 bundles for earlier games (like Freddi Fish 1 + 2 together, and Putt-Putt 1 + 2 together, for 5.99). Another option might be 3 games for 10 bucks, but I think 5.99 works best.

Updated versions vs. SCUMM originals: I have not played the Nimbus-updated games, but I suggested to them that if they have the right, they let GOG release the SCUMM originals alongside the new versions. The rationale behind this was similar to the VGA, SVGA, EGA differences – people may have different preferences, and may prefer to be able to tweak their gameplay via SCUMMVM (assuming it has settings like DOSBox does).

Soundtracks: I really really hope that GOG is able to release the soundtracks alongside the Humongous games. It seems that Humongous put all the music on the game discs under .HE4 files, and somebody developed a tool to extract them: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=191740, uploaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/?iezh2vadyuu6evo All that is spit out is 88kbps WAV files, basically ranging between :30 – 1:30 in length, but for those of us that grew up with this music, it is a serious happy nostalgia rush. ☺ (Plus, 40 to 50 files are usually spit out, which can make out to be 20 – 40 minutes worth of music)

Alright, I hope I haven’t bothered anybody by making this. I’ll edit it later, but I have exercise and schoolwork to do. :P

I would appreciate any helping contributions to this thread; if you’re genuinely interested in the games, please vote, but don’t necessarily feel obligated unless you think you could purchase the game from GOG.

Well, we already have Total Annihilation, so why not? Did the whole GT Interactive buyout mean they landed in different hands than the Cavedog stuff (Cavedog guys WERE actually HE guys, check the credits, their paychecks were signed by HE).

They're SCUUM games so they'd be a cinch to get on GOG (comparatively). I think some of the later "Backyard" sports titles may have had clever hacks in the engines to support their math, but Spy Fox and the rest should be plain old SCUUM.

Got my support, I mean it's not like we already don't have "kid" oriented titles here

King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride Torin's Passage Manhole

Yeah a argument could be made that those, well Torin's Passage and KQ 7 were more Family oriented fair then "kid" oriented but still, plus it's my hope that if Putt-putt and such get on here maybe it can open the door for some of the old Sierra Discovery games like the Island and Castle of Dr. Brain and Eco Quest.

And of course, thanks for the specific links, Barry. ;) After writing all the above yesterday, I really didn't feel like linking to each game. :P

tfishell: ...

orcishgamer: Well, we already have Total Annihilation, so why not? Did the whole GT Interactive buyout mean they landed in different hands than the Cavedog stuff (Cavedog guys WERE actually HE guys, check the credits, their paychecks were signed by HE).

They're SCUUM games so they'd be a cinch to get on GOG (comparatively). I think some of the later "Backyard" sports titles may have had clever hacks in the engines to support their math, but Spy Fox and the rest should be plain old SCUUM.

I knew Cavedog was, like a "subdivision" of GOG that made more teen-and-adult-oriented titles, but I'm not sure who owns what exactly, other than Atari (is that what GT is now? It's confusing for me to follow and keep track of who is what: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GT_Interactive_Software#1999_.E2.80.93_Infogrames_buys_GT_Interactive) bought Humongous ~10 years back. Nimbus Games is licensing Humongous content from Atari, so that's who I have been talking to (thankfully they're a small company, so they actually write back responses to emails).

Nimbus is creating non-SCUMM (or SCUUM?) versions of the games, but I thought it might be best to have both the SCUMM originals and Nimbus' stuff here (assuming GOG goes "through" Nimbus and not Atari directly, depending on what Atari's financial woes are doing to them).

I knew it was available on Atari's site and http://www.games2download.com. But as this site is more popular than many of those others, and has many good old games ;), as these are good old games I believe they should have a spot here. PLUS, those sites don't offer the nostalgastic soundtracks. :) SOUNDTRACKS.

Unfortunately, it seems that 9.99 price tag isn't going away. Hopefully GOG could negotiate for a 5.99 price tag. On the plus side, GameHouse says, "9.99 or 6.99 for members", so that may provide a bit of hope.

Antimateria: So like if we are supporting anything, we get a bill? =)

I just youtubed pajama sam.. didn't look too bad.

You mean you want money for supporting them? ;) I can pay you in Internets.

EverettLamb: Have my support also and would buy any series/franchise from/by them.

A very nice thread, tfishell and I totally support your effort. I played lots of Humongous games (mostly Pajama Sam and Putt-Putt series) back in the day and enjoyed them a lot. I even contributed Pajama Sam 3's game entry to Mobygames! I hope one day GOG would release those wonderful Humongous games...